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TV Review: "Doctor Who" 8x07: Kill The Moon

There were a handful of moments during
“Kill the Moon” that reminded me why I fell in love with Doctor Who in the first place. The 7th episode this
season is arguably the strongest yet (I’ll have to give it another watch to see
if it eclipses “Listen”) with every ingredient I cherish in the show being
mixed together to make a nigh perfect confection of Doctor Who goodness.

This season continues with harkening back
to the Classic Era of Who with the
infamous “base under siege” trope the show was known for in the 60’s. You see,
it’s the year 2049 and our moon has become too heavy and is causing some
expected havoc down on terra firma. A small group of astronaut’s are sent to
evaluate the situation (I.E. blow It up) but are thwarted by creepy ass giant
moon spiders. Just what is going on? And what will the Doctor do about it?

The plot of this particular episode is
nuts. It’s like, really out there. Even *gasp* silly. I’ve already read
comments about the junkyard science the episode uses and couldn’t care less.
Have these people ever seen an
episode of Doctor Who before? Old or
new? This is the kind of stuff Doctor
Who does and does well, fairly consistently I might add.

First time scripter Peter Harness manages
to meld different styles of Who into one sublime treat. It’s unpredictable,
it’s creepy, it’s barmy, and it’s funny. This show is at its best when it can
successfully fool you on the outcome of any given story, and “Kill the Moon” is
a great example of this. It’s science fiction/fantasy at its most confidently
inventive.

Now comes the part where I vomit my
obligatory praise of Peter Capaldi. The man can do no wrong in my book. His
delivery of some of the dialogue here had me laughing out loud on numerous
occasions. I’m also really appreciating the fact Moffat and his team are
bringing back the elusive nature of the Doctor that was prevalent in the old
days. 12 is still very much an enigma. You never quite pin down what he’s
thinking or what he’ll do. His action in this episode in particular reminded me
of the 4th and 7th Doctor respectively. This is the most
alien The Doctor has felt in a long while and I’m loving the unpredictability.

Jenna Coleman gives us her best performance
yet. She shares a powerfully emotional moment with The Doctor during the end of
the episode that felt very…real. Very human and vulnerable and opens up some
very curious doors as to how the character of Clara will make her
departure-which has been strongly hinted to be this year’s Christmas special.

The biggest ‘what if’ that had me a tad
worried about “Kill the Moon” was the inclusion of the 15 year character
Courtney Woods as a temporary companion. While her interplay with The Doctor
last week was fun and charming I was worried that we’d get flashbacks of
“Nightmare In Silver” and have to deal with an ungodly annoying troll of sass
and attitude. Luckily, Harness knew what to do with the character and she ended
being refreshingly well handled. Bravo, sir. Bravo.

Production wise this is the best looking
episode of the season. Man, they just keep topping themselves in this
department. The CGI is some of the most consistent and convincing we’ve seen on
the show recently and the mood of the piece is eerie and remote. There is
genuine peril here, and it’s the most palpable said peril has felt since
probably “The God Complex” in Season 6.

9/10. The minor qualm I have is that I wish the
Moon Spiders got a bit more screen-time. Their design and creep factor were too
strong to have them get sidelined like they did. Overall though this is a minor
issue in an overall excellent episode of Doctor
Who.